Dress-elevator



(NoModL) v J. G. WINTJEN. DRESS ELEVATOR.

No. 485,780. Patented Nov. 8, 1892.

WITNESSES INVENTOI? flaw m. B

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN G. WINTJEN, OF MOUNT VERNON, NEYV YORK.

DRESS-ELEVATO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 485,780, dated November 8, 1892.

Application filed February 6, 1892. Serial No. 420,559. (No model.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN G. W1NrJEN,a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Mount Vernon, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dress- Elevators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved dresselevator which is to be used by ladies for lifting the skirt of the dress in rainy weather, either temporarily or permanently, the'skirt being lowered again by its own weight whenever the dress-elevator is released; and the invention consists of a dress-elevator which is attached to theinside of the skirt below the waistband, and which comprises a cord-guide that is attached to the skirt, said cord-guide being composed of an interior spirally-coiled wire and an exterior covering, a dress-lifting cord that is passed through said guide and provided with a ring for pulling the same, and with auxiliary cords having ring-shaped ends that are attached to the dress and conneoted to the lower end of the lifting-cord. The lower end of the covering of the cordguide is not attached to the skirt but provided with slits or notches, so that it can yield sufficiently with the cord-guide during the use of the dress-elevating device.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation, with a part broken away, of my improved dress-elevator, showing it attached to the inside of a skirt. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the skirt, showing the exterior front end of the dress-elevator. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the dress-elevator, drawn on a larger scale and. ready for being attached to the skirt; and Fig. 4 is a detail side view of a portion of the cord-guide of the dress-elevator.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the skirt of a ladys dress, and D D the cordguide, through which the cord E for lifting the dress is passed. The cord-guide D D is composed of an exterior covering D of leather,japanned cloth,buckram,or other suitable fabric, the overlapping part-s of which are cemented together and connected by eyelets, stitches, or otherwise. In the bight at the lower edge of the covering is inserted an interior spirally-coiled wire D, which extends along the lower part of the covering D and which forms a tubular guide for the liftingcord. The spirally-coiled wire D is provided at the upper end with a sleeve D having an enlarged head that is soldered or otherwise attached to the coil D, so as to prevent the latter from being drawn through the covering by the strain exerted on the same by the weight of the skirt. The skirt-lifting cord E is passed through the coil of the tubular cordguide D and provided with a ringeat its upper end, said ring having a suitable tassel e or other device for conveniently taking hold of the same. To the lower end of the skirtlifting cord E are connected a number of auxiliary cords E of different lengths that are provided with rings e at their lower ends, by which said cords are attached to different points at the lower part of the skirt. The knots by which the auxiliarylifting-cords E are attached to the rings and to the end lifting-cord E are covered by means of braided sleeves e by which a neat appearance is imparted to the dress-lifting device. The covering D is stitched to the inside of the skirt at some distance below the waistband, as shown clearly in Fig. 1, the lower part of the cord-guide D D being not attached to the skirt, so as to yield and adapt themselves to the strain exerted thereon by the dress-lifting cords E E. For this purpose the covering of the cord-guide D D is provided with slits or notches f, that extend close to the coiled-wire guide D, as shown in Fig. 3, so that it readily adapt-s itself to the different curves to which the lower end of the cord guide is bent. The upper end of the dresslifting cord E is passed through an opening 8 in the skirt to the front part of the same, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the ring and tassel at the end of the same can readily be taken hold of whenever it is desired to lift the skirt. At the front part of the skirt is further arranged a fixed hook g, to which the ring e is applied whenever it is desired to support the dress permanently in lifted position, as in stormy weather or when shopping. For temporarily lifting the dress-as, for instance, when crossing a street-the tassel is simply pulled and the skirt held long enough in IOC raised position, after which the tassel is releasedand the skirt returned toits former position by its own weight.

Myirnproveddress-elevator can be cheaply manufactured and readily attached to the skirt of the dress, an opening like a small buttonhole being arranged in the front part of the skirt, so as to receive the headed sleeve at the upper end of the cord-guide, around which the opening is closed by means of stitches. The skirt can be readily lifted whenever necessary by pulling the tassel of the dress-lifting cords, the skirt dropping gracefully when in raised position. Either the temporary or permanent elevation of the dress may be readily secured, as before described, without indicating from the outside of the skirt the extra strain exerted thereon.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- A dress-elevator composed of a cord-guide formed of an interior closely-coiled wire, an exterior covering extending over said coiled wire and being united at the overlapping parts, the lower overlapping portion of said covering being slitted or notched, so as to yield to the strain on the same, a headed sleeve attached to the upper end of the Wire tube, a dress-lifting cord passing through the interior coiled wire, a ring at the upper end of the lifting-cord,auxiliary dress-lifting cords attached to the lower end of the main liftingcord, and rings at the lower ends of the auxiliary cords and adapted to be attached to the skirt, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN G. WINTJEN. \Vitnesses:

PAUL GoEPEL, CHARLES ScHRoEDER. 

